Medicare Open Enrollment starts and ends earlier this year
Monday, October 3, 2011
The annual opportunity to make changes to your Medicare coverage, known as Open Enrollment, starts and ends earlier this year. From Saturday, October 15, 2011 – Wednesday, December 7, 2011 you may elect to make a changes to your current health or prescription drug coverage to save money, have better coverage, or both. All changes must be made by Wednesday, December 7, 2011, not December 31 as it was in past years. The new coverage will be effective January 1, 2012. This is the only opportunity to switch your Medicare Advantage plan. You will not be able to make a one-time switch in the beginning 2012 as provided in previous years, but only be able to leave your Medicare Advantage plan and enroll in traditional Medicare.
Also beginning in 2012, beneficiaries in the Coverage Gap will see the out-of-pocket costs for their generic drugs go down and will continue to receive the 50% discount throughout the coverage gap on their brand-name medications.
For more information on available plans and free guidance, you can visit http://www.medicare.gov/open-enrollment/index.html. You may also want to contact a Pennsylvania APPRISE counselor at 1-800-783-7067. APPRISE is Medicare’s state-based health insurance assistance program that offers local counseling to people on Medicare. If you have additional questions, please call 1-800-Medicare or contact my office at 1-866-461-9159.
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